Armor plate



April 1942- A; J. coLuNs 2,279,110

ARMOR PLATE Filed NOV. 22. 1937 INVENTOR AL4A/V J. Call/N5 @mam .a

ATTOR EYS Patented Apr. 7, 1942 PATENT OFFICE ARMOR PLATE Allan J. Collins, Stamford, Conn., asslgnor, by mesne assignments, to Edmund Quincy Moses, Scarboro, N. Y.

Application November 22,1937, Serial No. 175,840

3 Claims. (Cl. 89-36) This invention relates to armor plate and more Many structures or bodies subjected to severe particularly laminated armor plate in which the stress or shock will fail readily if their surface sections or laminations are secured to each other resistance is broken down, regardless of the mass by the adhesive action of a binding medium. behind that surface, and it is apparent that my Laminated armor plate has heretofore been invention takes maximum advantage of this proposed having an outside layer or hard metallic principle by creating a type of armor which promaterial such as hard steel, and softer inner vides for multiplying serially the surface strength layers, comprising soft metal, wood, rubber, or and resistance of a plate structure any desired the like, beneath the outside hard layer, the number of times. theory being that the softer layers will cushion 10 It is a further object of my invention to provide the effect of a sharp blow against the outside a laminated body of great strength and impact harder lamination. resistance in which the laminations or layers However, armor plates of this character are shall have interposed between them insulating unsatisfactory, since once the projectile pierces and sealing materials having elastic qualities the outside relatively hard layer, little resistance In which will prevent the transmission from one is offered to its passage through the remainder lamination to an adjoining lamination of any of the armor by the supposed cushioning layers. damage. caused by an impinging projectile, but Accordingly, the cushioning effect of itself i of which will hold the laminations firmly together little, if any, value in resisting penetration by a inpermanent relation.

projectile. I Q It is a further object of my invention to pro- Laminated armor plate has also been proposed vide armor plate composed of relatively thick in. which laminations or layers of metal are selayers of steel, or the like, between which are cured together by inflexible mechanical means inserted relatively thin layers of adhesive matesuch as welding, bolting, riveting, or the like. On rlal. securing these plates together by these means, It is a further object to provide such laminated however, any advantage to be derived from armor plate in which the adhesive material shall laminated construction is thereupon lost, since be rubber, which may be inserted between the the series of laminations is reduced to substansteel plates and made to adhere thereto and to tially a solid single layer construction. d t Plates in Permanent binding e o y Furthermore, armor plate construction bound 30 vulcanization. Plates thus vulcanized together together by bolts or rivets is necessarily weakened will also'be efiectively protected a ainst Corrosion by the holes made to hold such bolts or rivets, and the action of the elements.

and is, consequently, less resistant to penetration The figure comprising the drawing is a perand shattering when struck by a projectile. The spective view of the armor.

bolts or rivets themselves are vulnerable points 35 In t fi u e w s O ed f P poses of which offer little resistan e to th impact and illustration and explanation only. a series of relapenetration of a projectile. It is for thi reason tively thick layers I, 2, 3, which may be of any that solid armor plate is customarily secured in material having impact resistant qualities, p place by means of tap screws which penetrate e y alloy steel, is shown. Between the lay the inner surface of the armor for but a small are inserted relatively thin layers 4, 5 of rubber fraction of its thickness. or similar adhesive material.

It is an object of my invention to provide lami- While the adhesive material may have some nated armor plate in which the laminations are slight cushioning efiect, its fundamental purpose held firmly together throughout their extent by a is not the provision of th s characteristic in the comparatively soft and flexible material of sufliarmor plate, but rather to bind the laminations cient strength to insure a commercially solid unit, in close and permanent relation without causing and yet of insufficient strength to-transmit any any lamination o lose its i entity. s a single rupture, shattering or distortion caused by an impact resistant surface.

impinging projectile in one lamination to an ad- In the construction of my i proved armor joining lamination. plate I provide relatively thick plates of hard It is an object of my invention to provide a metal as shown of either equal or unequal thickstructure of this nature which interposes in the mess and of similar or dissimilar metallic charpath of an impinging projectile a series of smooth acteristics.

surfaces that the projectile must shatter or pierce I have found it advantageous in some cases to successively and independently. use as an outside layer, or an outside series of layers, alloy steel having the particular characteristic of hardness and to use for the inner my laminated armor plate.

Between these various layerso I' place thin sheets of adhesive material. As an example .of the relative thickness of the layers of metal and adhesive material I may use metal plates of approximately ,4 thickness and interpose therebetween sheets of adhesive material of approximately 3 1" thickness. However, these dimensions and relative thicknesses may, of course, be widely departed from within any limits which will produce the desired results. Treatment of the adhesive material either by heat or by any means which cause the material to adhere to the superimposed laminations and make an elastic connection therewith seals the series of lamlnations into a single unit, the plates being held together by the adherence of the elastic material.

surface through which it has just passed. This surface, however, does not receive nearly the shock or blow received by the first surface since the passage of the projectile has been impeded and since the point of the projectile has been rendered ineffective. Thus, the projectile loses penetrating force as it meets each succeeding lamination-and is not able to penetrate the entire series of lximinations;

In view of these considerations, the advantage of providing a amination or laminations of relative toughness beneath the outer layer or layers of particularly hard steel can be seen. The effectiveness of the pointed projectile will be diminishe'd by the hard outer layers and the shattering effect of the impact on the armor will be resisted by the inner tough layer or layers.

My laminated armor plate may be secured to the structure to which it is applied in any customary fashion which will not have the effect of marring or weakening the outer surface thereof. Thus. shallow tap screws may be inserted in the inner wall of the armor for a slight distance in proportion to its entire thickness. Other means of application to armored structure will suggest,

themselves to those skilled in the art.

I have not found it necessary to achieve the new and advantageous effect disclosed herein to use rubber exclusively as sealing material between the plates. as such materials as nitrocellulose derivatives or other compounds may be In a case where heat is used, such as in the heat jectile each successive inner surface remains uninjured and therefore retains its full strength to oppose the further passage 'of the projectile through the structure. Furthermore, the supporting character of adjacent plates is such that a plate which might be sufficiently hard hitto bend and rupture from bending rather than shatter, will be supported by its adjacent plate and rupture caused by bending thereby prevented.

In the case of ordinary armor an impinging projectile enters the armor with what might be described as a wedging action, tending to thrust aside the material of the armor in lateral directions away from the original point of impact. This wedging action is transmitted through the entire thickness of the armor even before the projectile itself actually travels therethrough. However, in my armor plate the wedging action 'of the projectile through the entire structure is,

of course, impossible, since. it can act on no more than one plate at a time and the wedging effect which obtains in the first lamination cannot be transmitted to the succeeding'lamination because the adhesive material used between the laminations has insuflicient strength to transmit such wedging action. Accordingly, when a projectile passes through the first lamination I and has its point blunted or shattered by impact against this layer, it meets at 2 with another complete surface upon which no previous wedging action has been exerted and which is, accordingly, practically as strong and impact resistant as the used, provided that treatment by heat similar to vulcanization or treatment by any other process. or agent will cause the said lnterlining material to adhere to the plates-on either side of it and act as a support, holding the plates together. A thin layer of soft, easily fusible metal such as solder would also serve as the connecting means between the plates and would have a similar effect incausing the armor topresent a series of independent surfaces to an impinging projectile. However, I have found that non-metallic sealingmaterial is more desirable both from the standpoint of elasticity and the standpoint of insulation of shock.

I further do not propose to limit my discovery to any particular type of steel or other metal armor, intending to cover laminated plates generally which are prepared for the purpose of impeding the passage of projectiles of any sort whatsoever theretl-irough.

I claim:

1. Armor plate comprising sheets of steel placed face to. face in juxtaposition with each other, and adherent means capable of alone securing and supporting the respective sheets of steel from adjacent sheets without permitting longitudinal or lateral facewise displacement of one sheet rel-a ent projectile impact resisting sheetface portions,

the steel sheets being spaced only by the sheets of bonding material, the latter being sufficiently thick to prevent transmission of rupturing effects from a forwardly disposed steel sheet to a steel sheet therebehind.

2. Armor plate comprising sheets of steel placed face to face in juxtaposition with each other, and

adherent means capable'of alone securingan supporting the respective sheets of steel from adjacent sheets without permitting longitudinal or lateral facewise displacement of one sheet relative to the other sheets, comprising sheets of 5 rubber of considerably less thickness than said steel sheets covering and vulcanized to all portions'of adjoining faces of the steel sheets and interposed therebetween, said sheets of rubber constituting the sole securing and supporting 1 means for the steel sheets relative to each other, the steel sheets being arranged one behind the other to present successive independent projectile impact resisting sheet face portions, the steel ALLAN J. COLLINS. 

